Reporter Han Bing reported that as the world's first high-paid coach, Simeone, who has missed 3 trophies this season, has only the only faint hope of the Champions League. If manchester United cannot be eliminated to advance, it will directly affect Atletico's already unoptimistic league competition, and the worst result will be to end the "Simeone era" of the Red and White Army. But as Simeone's opponent, Rangnick, although the fate of the coach has long been determined, can withstand no less pressure than the Argentine.
The Red Devils also face a fierce competition for the fourth place, and also missed three domestic trophies early, and the Champions League is the only goal for the rest of the season. But Rangnick's situation is more difficult than Simeone's: he does not have the prestige that the Argentine has accumulated for a decade, and as an "academic" firefighting coach who has never won a heavyweight trophy, the Red Devils dressing room has very limited respect for him, and even Fred dares to publicly say that United should think long-term rather than find a temporary coach to deal with the season.
Entering the New Year, Manchester United is an eventful autumn, C. Ronaldo, who has lost his sense of smell in front of the goal, and Maguire, who is in a slump, has triggered a frenzy of media opinion on whether to change the captain, and the scandal in Greenwood has exacerbated Manchester United's off-field crisis. Although the team, like Atletico, has just won consecutively, the opponents are too weak, and the Madrid trip is the touchstone to test the strength of the Red Devils. Success or failure of this campaign will have a direct morale impact on United's March Devils fixture schedule and determine The fate of Rangnick.
Although the Red Devils did not lose at Madrid, they did not bargain. Goalpost and youngster Elanga became Rangnick's savior, with United taking the first 90 minutes 1-1, meaning the winner will be split 90 minutes after home in March. Kolanick has also set an embarrassing record in Manchester United history, he is the Red Devils' first two-game unbeaten coach in the Champions League, C. Ronaldo continues to lose at the Wanda Mets, Manchester United continues to play frustrating football, how can you expect to beat opponents at home?
The Red Devils are more "fluttering" than Atletico
Simeone's Atletico have been a roller coaster this season, never having a three-game winning streak. How could this not be the case for Manchester United after Rangnick took charge? Although he has only lost 2 of his 16 games since taking office, including the FA Cup proposed by a penalty by The Championship's Miburg at home, the locker room contradictions of Manchester United have completely exploded. The Red Devils have scored fewer than two goals in 11 of their 16 games, including the Champions League. C. Ronaldo was lost, the other shooters couldn't find the feeling, and the gap between the 1-0 doctrine and The offensive football vision of Lannick in his inaugural speech was too big.
Rangnick's Manchester United trend is ups and downs, often winning intervals, with a hard-fought win at the end of January brentford and West Ham United, followed by the FA Cup exit and the Premier League two consecutive draws to face fans. The media and public opinion hyped up the change of captain, which not only completely split the Red Devils locker room, but also made Lannick have to personally stand in support of Maguire, which also led to C. Ronaldo becoming the target of public criticism. Ironically, Manchester United are still in the whirlpool of public opinion on whether to change the captain, and Maguire scored in the league last weekend, which made the off-field turmoil more complicated.
Manchester United are, in a way, the Atletico of the Premier League: you can never predict how a team will perform. Players play and play very randomly, and there is a certain relatively stable law – that is, continuous instability. This has caused Lannick a lot of headaches, and not only the renewal of Pogba's contract, but also the constant grinding of the midfield but never finding the feeling of scoring, the scandal in Greenwood and the recent change of captain of the public opinion storm, so that Manchester United is under greater psychological pressure than opponents Atletico.
The technical and tactical discussion is of little significance to Manchester United at this stage, because the main framework of the team is relatively stable, but whether it can play the technical and tactical effect that Rangnick wants depends not only on the state of the players, but also on luck. C. Rowe, Sancho and Rashford are separated on two wings, and B. Fernandez is centered in the frontcourt without any suspense. Rangnick certainly wanted to be able to rotate like Simone, but the result of the rotation was constant disappointment.
Worse still, Simeone was able to hold the dressing room down no matter how bad his record and how outrageous the changes were. But Rangnick, who did not have a trophy to press the team, has recently been rebelled against by his subordinates, Lingard, Martial, Fred have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with him, and many players have leaked secrets to the media, creating a locker room to split public opinion, making Rangnick lose face. Although the English team has won four consecutive games against Atletico Madrid in the last two seasons of the Champions League, Manchester United, which is worried about internal and external problems, does not have this confidence. In the end, Rangnick did not replicate the achievements of Chelsea and Liverpool.
Can't count on "Real Madrid" in Madrid
Cavanila injured groin and missed the Madrid battle, and Rangnick's Manchester United could only pin their hopes on C. Ronaldo and Varane, two former Real Madrid stars. The two became intimately familiar with Simeone's Atletico, even to the point where Rannick did not need to use his intelligence resources. Cristiano Ronaldo's form has also recovered recently, with Varane also rebounding after Maguire came out of the slump and is no longer the loser slammed by Manchester United fans as the worst signing of the season.
Like Atletico, the Champions League is the only trophy United still has hope of winning. Although the Red Devils lead by four points in the league battle, Arsenal are four points behind in three games, and Tottenham and Wolves are also more than two games short. In March, the Red Devils will usher in the Devil's schedule, successively against Manchester City, Atletico, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, and madrid can not bargain cheaply, and it is likely to lose all the games in March. Under intense pressure, B. Fernandez stepped forward to stress that there was no division in the dressing room and that the players were still struggling to win every game. The Portuguese midfielder did deliver on his promise, with a key assist in the 80th minute helping United equalise and retreating to Old Trafford, at least as a result. He has also delivered assists in six consecutive Champions League games and is the only player on the attacking end of United to play normally.
All Rangnick could do was warn C. Ronaldo and Varane that two former Real Madrid players would definitely receive special treatment at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium after being attacked by the home team's extreme fans at Leeds United. Unfortunately, under the close supervision of Atletico, C. Ronaldo still could not find the feeling, and there was only one outrageous shot on goal in the first and second halves. It was also the fifth time he had delivered zero stats at the Wanda Mets, a career nightmare course, second only to Stamford Bridge (6 games with zero numbers). The Portuguese were dumbfounded, and the other partners were disappointing. Sancho and Marcus Rashford were both replaced early, but Erlanga, who came off the bench, was more active, eventually becoming United's youngest goal scorer in the Champions League knockout rounds (19 years and 302 days) and a hope for the Red Devils to advance at home.
For Both Manchester United and Rangnick, it was a disappointing but only acceptable 90 minutes of the first half. While the elimination of the away goal rule was good for the home team in the second leg, the Devils' March fixture schedule wiped out the Red Devils' rule advantage. The defeat in the Champions League may put Manchester United, which is already in danger, into a collapse.